


Collect into ghosts

by c1aire_h



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eleven | Jane Hopper and Mike Wheeler in Love, Emo Mike Wheeler, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, How Do I Tag, Hurt, Hurt Mike Wheeler, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Mike Wheeler Loves Eleven | Jane Hopper, Mike Wheeler Needs a Hug, Mike-Centric, Protective Eleven | Jane Hopper, Sad, Sad with a Happy Ending, Stranger Things 2, Suicidal Thoughts, Whump, i need a hug after writing this lol, no actions really though, please don’t read if it might trigger u it’s not worth it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:07:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24477685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c1aire_h/pseuds/c1aire_h
Summary: What would happen if Eleven found Mike earlier that the end of season 2 and with an injury?Title from So Long by Maya HawkeNo actual ghosts I sorry
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Mike Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Jim "Chief" Hopper & Mike Wheeler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	Collect into ghosts

**Author's Note:**

> WARNINGS  
> PLEASE DONT READ THIS IF YOU THINK IT MAY TRIGGER YOU ITS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO WORTH IT AND I CARE ABOUT YALL  
> -little blood  
> -suicidal thoughts (not really actions though)  
> Anyways I hope y’all enjoy this it made me a little sad to write so I gave it a happy ending but personally I feel like after watching his girlfriend die at the end of season 1 Mike would have a really hard time  
> Also per usual this was edited by me and I suck at commas n shit

“Day 352. 

You’ve been gone for almost a year now. I think about you all the time and I miss you.Dustin, Lucas, and Will have been trying to get me out of the house more, but every time I consider leaving, something reminds me of you and I worry. What if you come home while I’m gone? What if you find a way to respond to me and I’m not there to hear it? What if you need a place to hide and you can’t get inside. What if… what if I’m not there for you when you need me? My mom’s been asking me to put away your fort in the basement for weeks now, but it has to be there for if—no, when you come back. I’m-I’m scared El, I’m starting to forget the little things like all of the small creases on your face when I made you smile. I won’t stop looking for you. I love you. I hope you come home”

Mike sighs and takes his finger off the walkie talkie button. He places it back in the fort and hits his head on the table while standing up. 

“Ow”

Rubbing the spot on his head, he makes his way out of the fort. 

“Michel, time for bed!” His mom shouts for upstairs. 

“I’ll be up in a minute!” He yells while beginning to walk up the stairs. 

On the third step he pauses and thinks for a second before turning around and grabbing a flashlight of the bookcase. He tucks it in his pocket and makes his way up to his room. 

11:03 pm

The lights in the house have been off for a half hour now and Mike can hear the snores coming from his parents room. The boy slips out his bed and walks to his room’s door and locks it. Then he makes his way over to his window, carefully avoiding the creaky spots on his floor, and slowly opens it. Double checking to make sure he has his flashlight, he makes his way out the window and down the tree next to his room. It’s around 34° outside and its pouring rain so he puts up the hood on his jacket thinking about the first time Lucas, Dustin, and him met El while looking for Will. He rubs his eyes, hops on his bike and begins riding to Mirkwood. When he reaches Mirkwood he puts down the kick stand on his bike and walks into the forest where he begins shouting. 

“El!”

“Eleven!”

“It’s me! It’s Mike”

He receives no response so the boy walks deeper into the forest. The deeper he goes the darker it gets. Mike slips a few times in the mud but keeps walking. 

“El please!”

“I need you!”

In the distance he squints his eyes and sees a large shadow shaped like a cabin. 

“Eleven” Mike whispers. 

He picks up speed running towards the house. The boy’s half way there when his foot trips on something. There’s a loud snap of a mouse trap and he falls, slamming his head onto a rock and blacking out. 

11:38 pm

Eleven is sitting on the couch in Hopper’s cabin watching a show. Hopper had sent a morse code message 7 seven minutes ago saying he’d be late… again. 

Snap!

At first, Eleven is confused by the sound but then she remembers; the mouse trap. Hopper said if she ever hears it she should go hide. El considers doing this but decides against it. It’s probably a hunter and hopper will be home soon. She can protect herself with her powers anyways so she double checked the lock on the door before going back to her show. 

12:00 pm

Eleven’s show finished. Hopper still hasn’t come home yet. This is the eighth day in a row he’s been late and El is getting annoyed. When Mike told her the time he’d get home he was never late. Feeling rebellious, she opens the blinds wide and looks outside. The rain has turned into more of a slush by now. It’s dark so she turns off the cabin light to see better. She scans around a bit before noticing a shape by the tripwire. At first glance it looks like a log but when she squint it looks more like a person. She grabs a flannel takes a deep breath and unlocks the door. Eleven steps out side and shivers realizing how cold it is outside and wondering if the shadow really is a person, why are they outside in this weather and why are they laying on the ground?

She walks closer to what she not knows it’s a person and notices that they’re probably a kid somewhere around her age. El is only couple meters away when she recognizes the raincoat. The girl runs the rest of the way and kneels down by Mike. 

“Mike!” She exclaims while shaking him. 

He doesn’t move. 

Eleven flips him onto his back and looks at his face. The first thing she notices is the red dripping down his forehead. He looks more pale than usual and his lips look more purple than red. Overall he looks almost… lifeless, so different than the Mike she’s use to. She lays her hand against his face and his skin is almost icy. Taking his hands in hers, she drags back to the cabin and uses her powers to get him up the stairs and onto the couch. 

Eleven grabs the quilt of her bed and covers him with it. She heats up some water in the kettle and grabs two rags and a first aid kit that Hopper taught her how to use. Using a cloth with warm water, El cleans some of the blood off his forehead and uses a few butterfly bandaids to help stop the bleeding. She dips the other cloth in warm water and places it on his forehead below the bandaids. Eleven leaves the tv on and curls up next to Mike where she falls asleep. 

1:12 am

Hopper finally got off of work 20 minutes ago and was currently pulling up to the cabin. The first thing he noticed was that one of his rules had been broken; the windows were open. Cursing under his breath, Hopper runs to the front door, only to find it unlocked. 

“Eleven!” he yells walking through the door. 

“Shhh” she responds. 

“Eleven this isn’t funny you-“

“Be quiet, he’s sleeping”

“Who’s sleeping? Eleven who did you bring into this house?!”

“Wha-“ a tired voice answers him. 

“You woke him up” El pouts. 

Hopper walks around to the front of the couch to see Eleven curled up on the couch with Mike who managed to fall back asleep somehow within the past few seconds. 

“I told you not to leave the house!” Hopper yells

“He needed me!”

“What if someone found out about you? Is whatever Mike needed you for more important?!”

“Yes”

“I’m not up for your sass today”

“Friends don’t lie. He needed me”

“What could he have possibly needed you for?”

“He was cold”

“El, you can’t just break the rules because you boyfriend was cold”

“What is boyfriend?”

“Never mind. I’ll bring him home”

“No.”

“No?”

“He needs to sleep to get better”

“He can sleep at home with his family”

“But they don’t know what happened”

“What happened?”

“I found him outside, sleeping”

“Why would he be sleeping outside?”

“I think he fell, his head was bleeding. He was cold so I took him inside and used the first aid kit”

“Wait, does he have hypothermia?”

“Hippo-“

“How long do you think he was asleep outside”

“Don’t know”

“Wh-where am I? H-Hopper?” A shivering Mike asks. 

“Mike” Eleven says. 

“El-Eleven?! Is th-this a d-dream?”

“No Mike. I’m here”

Mike breaks down in to tears. 

“I can’t b-believe your a-alive and I’ve c-called you e-ever day f-for—“

“352 days”

“Y-you heard?”

“Yes”

“Where h-have you b-been”

“Here”

“With H-hopper? Why d-didn’t you l-let me know y-you were ok?”

“Because I wouldn’t let her” Hopper speaks up. 

“You-!“ Mike tries to stand up but collapses back on to the couch taking shallow breaths. 

“Hey stay down kid you don’t got much strength right now” Hopper says

“You don’t get to tell me what to do!” Mike yells. 

“Mike-“ Hopper starts. 

“No!” Mike yells “You d-don’t get to s-speak. I m-mourned her I spent a-almost a year l-looking for her a-and calling h-her! You kept h-her away f-from me when I n-needed her! Do y-you know there w-were days w-where I thought a-about just ending it a-all? Not to mention t-today when I almost d-died looking for h-her. When I tripped o-on that rock a-all I thought was m-maybe now it’ll be o-over and maybe, just m-maybe I’d get to see h-her again” by now Mike’s breathing has turned into hyperventilating. 

“Mike, you need to breathe, like me” Eleven says purposefully breathing in deep with tears flowing down her face. Hopper has helped her through her fair share of panic attacks about the Demogorgan and the Upside Down. 

Mike’s breathing calms a bit and he lays back down on the couch, yawning. 

“Why don’t you try and get some more sleep Mike” Hopper suggests. 

Mike glares at him before closing his eyes. Eleven curls up with him on the couch and he falls back asleep next to her within five minutes. 

“Can Mike be here?” Eleven asks. 

“What?” Hopper questions. 

“Can mike be here forever”

“No Mike can’t live here”

“Why?”

“Mike has a life at home with his family and his friends”

“Come back?”

Hopper sighs. 

“I’ll drive him home in the morning and then guess he can come by once a week for an hour to visit, but don’t expect me to be happy about it”

“Half way happy?” Eleven smirks. 

“Not really but sure”

— One week later —

Hopper is getting ready for work when he hears a knock on the door. He walks over and opens it and glares down at Mike who is wearing a snarky smile. Eleven shoves past Hopper and pulls Mike into a tight hug. 

“Alright break it up you two” Hopper rolls his eyes. 

Eleven grabs Mike’s hand and they run off into Eleven’s room giggling. 

“Hey! Leave the door open three inches!” Hopper yells. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to leave comments or nah I ain’t the boss of u
> 
> Join my supernatural discord! https://discord.gg/6CvFtU4Y


End file.
